Managed Care News and Research

RSS

More needs to be done for preemie healthcare

A recent survey of 202 neonatologists and pediatricians, which examined current attitudes and practices when caring for the specialized health needs of preterm infants, revealed that most respondents (70 percent) feel the United States' healthcare system does not place enough emphasis on or dedicate enough resources to preventive healthcare for preemies.

20 Feb 2008

Health care providers play key role in likelihood their patients are screened for colorectal cancer

The findings suggest that interventions targeting both the provider and the patient are needed to boost colorectal cancer screening rates, and in particular must take into account patient barriers such as concerns about payment and worries that cancer will be discovered.

12 Feb 2008

Team approach to treating depression cuts medical costs

A team approach to treating depression in older adults, already shown to improve health, can also cut total health-care costs, according to a new study led by the University of Washington.

8 Feb 2008

Taking more than one NSAID may lead to complications

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used to treat arthritis, which affects one-third of all adults.

5 Feb 2008

Health insurance co-payments deter mammography use

When faced with even a modest health insurance co-payment for a mammogram, significantly fewer women receive these potentially life-saving breast cancer screenings, according to a new study by Brown University and Harvard Medical School researchers.

24 Jan 2008

Caraco Pharmaceutical Labs announces FDA approval to market generic Metaglip

Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd., has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted final approval for the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Glipizide/Metformin Hydrochloride Tablets, 2.5/250 mg, 2.5/500 mg and 5/500 mg (Glipizide/Metformin HCl).

15 Jan 2008

Geriatric care intervention appears to provide some benefits for low-income seniors

A home-based geriatric care program for low-income seniors resulted in higher-quality medical care, improvement in quality of life and fewer emergency department visits, but did not appear to prevent decline in physical functioning, according to a study in the December 12 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

13 Dec 2007

Better health outcomes in hospitals using information technology

Patients are more likely to have better health outcomes if they are treated at hospitals using information technology (IT) systems, according to a comprehensive new Florida State University study.

12 Dec 2007

Study finds disease management programs improve the quality of health care

Disease management programs that help guide the care of patients with chronic health problems appear to improve the quality of health care, but there is little evidence that such efforts actually save money, according to a study issued by the RAND Corporation.

10 Dec 2007

Caraco Pharmaceutical Labs announces FDA approval to market generic Norvasc

Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted final approval for the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Amlodipine Besylate Tablets, 2.5 mg, 5 mg, and 10 mg (Amlodipine).

5 Dec 2007

MedPAC finds uneven quality in newer Medicare Advantage plans

Medicare Payment Advisory Commission officials at a meeting on Friday expressed concern over data showing differences in quality among newer Medicare Advantage plans and increasing enrollment in private fee-for-service MA plans, CQ HealthBeat reports.

12 Nov 2007

Raid of WellCare prompted by Medicaid fraud concerns

A recent raid by federal and state authorities on Tampa, Fla.-based health insurer WellCare was prompted by allegations that the company inflated mental health care spending so it could keep funds it should have refunded to the state's Medicaid program, according to a person familiar with details of the investigation, the Wall Street Journal reports (Won Tesoriero/Francis, Wall Street Journal, 11/3).

5 Nov 2007

Medicaid managed care enrollees appear to receive lower-quality

The proportion of Medicaid beneficiaries in managed care increased from 23 percent to more than 60 percent during the same time period,” the authors write. There is limited information in peer-reviewed literature on the quality of care delivered within health plans to Medicaid enrollees.

10 Oct 2007

Under HMOs, Medicaid patients fare worse than commercial HMO patients

Once viewed as a panacea to the nation's health care problems, HMOs have fallen out of favor.

10 Oct 2007

Patients perceived cancer care unaffected by lower Medicare reimbursements

Patients perceive no significant change in the quality of care for cancer since the United States' government passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) according to a study published in the November 15, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

9 Oct 2007

Black patients with asthma have worse control of their symptoms and higher rates of hospitalization

Patients with asthma who are black appear more likely to visit the emergency department or be hospitalized for the condition than those who are white, even in a managed care setting that provides uniform access to care, according to a report in the September 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

25 Sep 2007

ACTOS associated with reduced risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes

Results presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes demonstrate the ability of ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) to reduce the risk of ischemic cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes.

20 Sep 2007

Primary care depression treatment often does not follow quality guidelines

Most patients with depression who are treated by primary care physicians do not receive care consistent with quality standards, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

5 Sep 2007

PACE program helps seniors to live independently

As the baby boomer generation faces retirement, there is heightened interest in the best ways to care for older adults and prolong their abilities to live independently. A new study looks at seniors' abilities to perform essential daily functions after entering the PACE program, a large-scale managed-care initiative with 15,000 current U.S. participants.

3 Sep 2007

Pharmacist Services Technical Advisory Coalition awarded grant from Community Pharmacy Foundation

The Pharmacist Services Technical Advisory Coalition (PSTAC), an alliance of seven national pharmacy organizations, has recently been awarded a grant from the Community Pharmacy Foundation to support an educational campaign on Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes used for Medication Therapy Management Services (MTMS) provided by pharmacists.

28 Aug 2007